blog Category
Summer SAVY, Session 4 Day 1, “Solving the Chemical Spill: Navigating Ecological and Chemical Systems” (5th-6th)
Jul. 7, 2025—Dear Parents, This is a delightful group! Today, the students had fine insights, ideas, and questions regarding the chemical spill. We started the morning playing a few science games in order to get to know each other. Then, we discussed what it means to be a scientist. The students were introduced to our...
Summer SAVY, Session 4 Day 1, “Intro to Neurobiology” (5th-6th)
Jul. 7, 2025—We had a very productive and exciting day today! We began the day with everyone introducing themselves. Students shared where they are from, their hobbies, and why they are interested in neuroscience. Then we discussed what kind of approach and attitudes we may adopt towards this course. Specifically, we talked about the idea of...
Summer SAVY, Session 4 Day 1, “Tremendous Transformations in Writing” (3rd-4th)
Jul. 7, 2025—We had a great first day together in Tremendous Transformations in Writing! After discussing classroom expectations, we began our course by talking about the concept of transformation. We learned that the word “transformation” can be traced to the Latin verb transformare, meaning “to change in shape,” and that the English word “transform” was first used almost one...
Summer SAVY, Session 4 Day 1, “The Science of Senses” (3rd-4th)
Jul. 7, 2025—Hello Families! I think we set a record for the number of activities and content in a single day! We started getting to know the class with an activity called “Compass Points,” where the students generate their own questions about the class, content, and expectations. In this activity, the students brainstorm what they “Need to...
Summer SAVY, Session 4 Day 1, “Coding and Robotics” (3rd-4th)
Jul. 7, 2025—Welcome to Coding and Robotics! Our day started with a “Lego Icebreaker.” Each student built a mini sculpture that represented themselves and/or their interests. During our morning meeting, each student presented their sculpture and introduced themselves. It was a great way to get to know one another and find shared interests. I also conducted an...
Summer SAVY, Session 4 Day 1, “Creature Connections: Animals, Humans, and the Natural World” (1st-2nd)
Jul. 7, 2025—Hello SAVY Families, The animal expert in your family had a thrilling first day of SAVY Session 4: Creature Connections. I am eager to tell you about the marvelous learning that took place today! To start the day, we laid the foundation for our course. Through a reading of The Great Kapok Tree, students...
Summer SAVY, Session 4 Day 1, “Creative Contraptions: A Study of Inventions” (1st-2nd)
Jul. 7, 2025—We had a fantastic first day here at Creative Contraptions! We spent a little time this morning getting to know one another and then jumped right into our studies. We started with a discussion of “What is a Scientist?” We brainstormed ideas such as “they make observations, ask questions, and conduct experiments.” We came up...
Summer SAVY, Session 3 Day 5, “Neurobiology of Learning and Memory” (7th-8th)
Jun. 27, 2025—Our first topic in the morning was the scientific method. We asked, “What is science?” Many students showed impressively sophisticated understanding of science, not as specific disciplinary knowledge like physical laws, but as a way of obtaining and establishing knowledge by means of objective evaluations. We then delved into some assumptions and methods...
Summer SAVY, Session 3 Day 5, “Introduction to Python for Beginners” (7th-8th)
Jun. 27, 2025—Dear Parents and Students, What an incredible final day of our Python coding journey! Day 5 was all about celebrating the students’ creativity, problem-solving skills, and growth over the week. Each student team presented their final projects, original games built entirely using Python in Colab, to the class with pride and enthusiasm. Student...
Summer SAVY, Session 3 Day 5, “Finding “Faults” in Media: The Geology of Disaster Movies” (7th-8th)
Jun. 27, 2025—Hello, SAVY Parents!! We made it all the way through our session, and all the students came out on the other side, hopefully with a bit more knowledge and an engaging and fulfilling week behind them. Today was mostly dedicated to finishing and presenting the final projects. We took an interlude to watch the...